Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1542014
P150 FEATURE I CELEBRATING YAMAHA'S FIRST PRODUCT the new Yamaha dealers. Four months later came a new contest, the Asama High- lands race, which was a four- lap race on a 12-mile course, which started at the base of Mount Asama, reached a point at what was called Asama Ranch, then headed back down again. For the inaugural event, the volcano was still smoking after its latest eruption. With the YA-1 squad now aboard more powerful versions, with distinctive racing-style seats and ultra-high handlebars, Yamaha once again vanquished archrival Honda to take the first four places, with Noboru Hiyo - shi leading them home. Sales Success The competition successes electrified the buying public, and customers flocked to the showrooms. For 1955, 2272 examples of the Red Dragonfly were built, with production of the model continuing until 1957. To cash in on the success of the 125, an enlarged 175cc version—the YC-1 (basi - cally an exact copy of the DKW RT175)— was rushed into production. Uncharacteristically, however, the engineers made an error in retaining the exhaust system Testing had shown that the Yamaha exhaust muffler sapped power, so a new version, mod - eled on the DKW, was produced. Yamaha's team for the Mount Fuji climb consisted of 10 riders, who practiced from dawn until dusk before the event. The field contained 49 entries from 16 different manufacturers. A secret weapon, revealed only once the event was underway, was a mo - bile dynamometer, which allowed Yamaha technicians to fine-tune carburetion to cope with atmo - spheric conditions and altitude. Riders left the starting line in pairs at 30-second intervals, and when the dust settled, the winner of the 125cc class was Yamaha's Terou Okada in a time of 29 minutes, seven seconds. Significantly, pre-race fa - vorite Honda was pushed into second place, and six more Yamahas were in the top 10. It was an emphatic victory, cel- ebrated across the country by a college graduate was around 10,000 yen, the YA-1's 138,000 yen price tag put it well beyond the reach of most aspiring clients, but once the dealer net- work became operational, sales were healthy. Strutting Its Stuff Like Honda, Yamaha believed the best way to publicize its products was in competition, although motorcycle racing was in a very embryonic stage, with no real circuits to speak of. The most prestigious event was the hillclimb titled the Mount Fuji Ascent Race (first run in 1953 and won in 1954 by Honda). It was a timed sprint on rough, unsealed tracks that began near the base of the vol - cano and finished well up the steep slopes. The rules strictly demanded that the event be open to pro - duction motor- cycles only, ex- cluding one-off r acing specials. Performance- enhancing mods were al- lowed, provided the machine basically re- tained its stock appearance, so Yamaha's technicians were able to tweak things internally to boost the standard figure of 5.5 horsepower at 5000 rpm, with maximum torque of 6.9 lb-ft at 3300 rpm. First shown at the Tokyo Motor Show in April 1956, the 175cc YC-1 boosted production (along with the YA-1) to over 1000 units per month.